The right arm that so many long-suffering Mets fans have placed their hopes for a brighter future on delivered again on Monday night, pitching a gem against the Phillies in Philadelphia. Matt Harvey struck out nine and gave up just one run over seven strong innings.

Harvey was equally impressive in his first game of the season, striking out ten Padres hitters and holding them to just one hit over seven innings.

On Monday, Harvey got some help early as new catcher John Buck blasted a three-run home in the second inning. Buck was supposed to be a placeholder behind the plate until top catching prospect Travis d'Arnaud, who came to the Mets from the Blue Jays with Buck in the R.A. Dickey trade.

Instead, his 12 RBIs are the most by any player in Mets franchise history over the first seven games of the season. With Dickey looking shaky in Toronto and off to an 0-2 start, ignoring the knuckleballer's popularity with the fans and letting him go rather than signing him to a huge contract coming off a year he won the Cy Young award seems like the smart baseball move.

Meanwhile, over the weekend the Mets took two of three from the Miami Marlins at Citi Field. The Mets came from behind in the rubber match on Sunday afternoon when another new Met, outfielder Marlon Byrd, hit a two-run walk-off single to score Ruben Tejada and Kirk Nieuwenhuis for the 4-3 win.

The rest of the week shapes up for the Mets like this: at Philadelphia (4/12); at Minnesota (4/12, 4/13 & 4/14); and a four-game road trip to Colorado (4/15, 4/16, 4/17 & 4/18) before returning home for a three-game weekend series with the Washington Nationals.